MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

The latest edition of Inside the Cage Radio is now available! Joining Matt Cava and Sam Caplan this week were Kenny Florian, Ricco Rodriguez, and Joe Riggs.

Here’s a rundown of this must-listen show:

Segment One - EliteXC’s female MMA controversy:

Sam and Matt share their thoughts about the fallout from the Gina Carano vs. Tony Evinger match at last Saturday’s EliteXC “Uprising” from Tonya Evinger’s pre-fight comments, Mauro Ranallo’s in-fight comments, and Gina Carano’s post-fight comments and her weight cutting issues. The show takes a unique turn when Sam’s wife joins the show to give a female fighter’s perspective.

Segment Two - UFC lightweight fighter Kenny “The Finisher” Florian:

Kenny breaks down his victory over Din Thomas from UFN 11 this past Wednesday night and discusses how he scouted Thomas; Florian addresses whether he’d be ready for a hypothetical lightweight title fight in November and indicates when he plans to fight again; he reveals when a match between B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson might take place; he reveals who Roger Huerta’s next opponent could be; Florian also broke down specific fighters in the UFC’s lightweight division and discussed who he considers the top lightweight fighters outside of the UFC (and he had some interesting things to say about Takanori Gomi).

Segment Three - Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez:

Ricco comes out firing right out of the gate. He reveals he not only took a fight with Ben Rothwell at the IFL finals on short notice but that he had just gotten out of rehab shortly before the bout; he addresses the controversy surrounding the match with Rothwell head on and pulls no punches; Ricco clarifies his contract statuses with both the IFL and EliteXC; indicates his plans for what weight class he plans to fight at in the future; discusses his recent decision to sever business ties with MMA superagent Ken Pavia; indicates that he believes politics could be keeping him out of the UFC; addresses his fallout with Tito Ortiz and issues an official challenge; and much more! Ricco was just dropping bombshells left and right. He sounded hungry, healthy, and happy and it looks like the Ricco Rodriguez of old could be back. I think we’re going to be seeing him fighting for the big promotions on a regular basis again soon.

Segment Four - New Strikeforce middleweight fighter Joe “Diesel” Riggs:

Ricco was not an easy act to top but Riggs just might have done it. Joe let everyone know why he asked for his release from the WEC and why he wanted to go to Strikeforce; clarifies on the record once and for all whether he ever wanted to be assigned to the WEC in the first place; addresses rumors as to whether he will fight Cung Le if he beats Eugene Jackson on Sept. 29 at the Playboy Mansion; calls out a surprise opponent; discusses his past pain killer addiction and comments on drug use in MMA; and reveals the true story of the infamous Nick Diaz fight that took place at a Las Vegas hospital following UFC 57; and much more!

Download the full show here